1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a dolly used in commercial warewashing.
2. Description of Related Art
In commercial warewashing systems such as sold to hotels, resorts, universities and the like, there are typically several zones through which pass dishes, glasses, flatware, etc. to be cleaned. There are several methods in which these items are passed through the zones.
In one specific method, the dishes, glasses, flatware, etc. are placed in racks, usually 20".times.20" racks, and the racks in turn are placed on dollies. The dollies are supported on a conveyor pan and typically travel a continuous path through the several zones. Sections of the path are curved. Travel of the dollies through the curved sections (turning) is demanding on the dolly wheels and the conveyor pan. The dolly wheels have a flat bottom surface and a convex edge. A single point on the wheel edge comes into contact with the side of the conveyor pan. The flat side of the wheel lies in a horizontal plane spaced apart from the surface of the conveyor pan that supports the dollies. The conveyor pan has walls which are s-shaped (not straight sided) to define tracks for the wheels. The shaped walls (tracks) accommodate the dolly wheels which are turning in a horizontal plane but must turn against an angled surface to prevent grinding and abrasion by the wheels of the conveyor pan when the dollies are turning curves. In this configuration, the rack rides above the wheels and the width of the rack is generally equal to the distance between the dolly wheels on opposed sides of the dolly.
On these systems with s-shaped sides, there are four welds on each currently manufactured conveyor pan to accommodate the dolly wheels, dolly track, trough, end plate and straight-away track trough. This large amount of welding and the subsequent grinding and polishing of these welds greatly adds to the manufacturing costs.
Conveyor pans which have straight sides and flat bottoms to support dollies carrying racks are known in the art. However, the width of the dolly is greater than the width of the rack which is supported by the dolly. To support the dolly the width of the conveyor pan must be greater than the width of the rack. Because of this disparity in width, there is wasted space and lack of economy. The entire system, conveyor pan, cabinets for rinse and wash zones must be wider than the rack carrying the wares to be treated in order to accommodate the width of the dolly.
Dollies for supporting 10" w.times.20" l racks have been known for over thirty years. These dollies travel on a conveyor pan having a flat bottom and straight sides. However, the opposed dolly wheels supporting the 10".times.20" tray are spaced apart 16". In essence, four dolly wheels in a rectangular 16".times.20" configuration support a 10" wide.times.20" long rack. The disparity in widths 10" versus 16" is to enable the 10".times.20" rack to travel through the curved sections of the conveyor pan.